All right the subject of my model will involve the factors that led to the decline of oysters in the Chesapeake bay, and whether this can be attributed to soley over fishing or nutrient runoff or a combination of the two.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Project
All right the subject of my model will involve the factors that led to the decline of oysters in the Chesapeake bay, and whether this can be attributed to soley over fishing or nutrient runoff or a combination of the two.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Stella
for my project I am probably going to use a program called Stella. This is an easy to use but fairly good tool for computer modeling. The focus of my model will be to combine multiple organisms in the Chesapeake bay and see which ones survive and which ones perish. The whole point is to see if i can recreate the fall of some of the Chesapeake bays species.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
STEM
A computer model is a program that predicts or re-enacts what happened or will happen. I am ionterested in this because my mother is a modeler and so not only is she lnowledgable on the subject, but she also has all of the neccessary equipment. I have decided to do some research on different topics to help me decide the focus of my model.
My STEM prodject
I have decided to do a stem project on computer models. I am now thinking about what i will model.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
roaches
Yup they aren't actually that invincible. They have relativly weak exso skeletons compared to say a tick and their resistance to radiation is low compared to a gnat. They are just big.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
FLash
flashgamedesign.com check it out. This is a comprehensive guide to programming in adobe flash. It has tutorials on flash web design as well as making flash games. Difficult program and you should know C before you try it out.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Magnets
Do magnets wipe data off of computers? Do they hurt other objects such as ipods or flash memory sticks. The answer is yes and no. Neodymium magnets are powerful. Very powerful they are the most potent magnets available to the public. To put this into perspective, one 1/4 pound magnet can lift 500 pounds of iron. If you were to stick this onto an ipod or flash drive nothing would happen. Flash memory doesn't have magnetic components and so nothing happens. A magnet powerful enough to disturb the electrons in a flash drive and damage it would also rip the iron out of your blood and so you would be to dead to notice what happened. On the other hand your average floppy disk will be completely wiped by a magnet as well as most magnetic hard drives. They also screw up your screen so as a rule of thumb just keep it away from your computer.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Hybrid Vehicles
A hybrid is not just a car that combines gas and electricity. A hybrid is a vehicle that utilizes two sources of energy. A moped is an example. The moped uses both gas and a person pedaling. A hybrid uses a sophisticated combination of an electric and a gasoline engine. At low speeds the gas engine shuts off and the electric one has full control. At high speeds the electric engine assists the gasoline one while the gasoline charges the battery. Plug in hybrids are hybrids that have extra battery powers. This means that the gas engine needs to be run less often and the electric one runs the car until 52 miles per hour. You can purchase a used civic plus he convertion for 25000 dollars. this gives you a car that gets 100 miles per gallon. More information at hymotion.com
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
WOW
This is a cool article about math so i thought that i would put it up
It relates to both career choices and math. It is also interesting that gesticulating helps one to process a math problem. I am going to try this on the next math exam and see for myself if it actually works.
Copyright to The Economist magazine
source:http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13139611
HUMAN language is the subject of endless scientific investigation, but the gestures that accompany speech are a surprisingly neglected area. It is sometimes jokingly said that the way to render an Italian speechless is to tie his wrists together, but almost everyone moves their hands in meaningful ways when they talk. Susan Goldin-Meadow of the University of Chicago, however, studies gestures carefully—and not out of idle curiosity. Introspection suggests that gesturing not only helps people communicate but also helps them to think. She set out to test this, and specifically to find out whether gestures might be used as an aid to children’s learning. It turns out, as she told the AAAS, that they can.
The experiment she conducted involved balancing equations. Presented with an equation of the form 2 + 3 + 4 = x + 4, written on a blackboard, a child is asked to calculate the value of x. In the equations Dr Goldin-Meadow always made the last number on the left the same as the last on the right; so x was the sum of the first two numbers. Commonly, however, children who are learning arithmetic will add all three of the numbers on the left to arrive at the value of x.
In her previous work Dr Goldin-Meadow had noted that children often use spontaneous gestures when explaining how they solve mathematical puzzles so, to see if these hand-movements actually help a child to think, or are merely descriptive, she divided a group of children into two and asked them to balance equations. One group was asked to gesture while doing so. A second was asked not to. Both groups were then given a lesson in how to solve problems of this sort.
As Dr Goldin-Meadow suspected, the first group learnt more from the lesson than the second. By observing their gestures she refined the experiment. Often, a child would touch or point to the first two numbers on the left with the first two fingers of one hand. Dr Goldin-Meadow therefore taught this gesture explicitly to another group of children. Or, rather, she taught a third of them, taught another third to point to the second and third numbers this way, and told the remainder to use no gestures. When all were given the same lesson it was found those gesturing “correctly” learnt the most. But those gesturing “incorrectly” still outperformed the non-gesturers.
Gesturing, therefore, clearly does help thought. Indeed, it is so thought-provoking that even the wrong gestures have some value. Perhaps this helps to explain why the arithmetic-intensive profession of banking was invented in Italy.
It relates to both career choices and math. It is also interesting that gesticulating helps one to process a math problem. I am going to try this on the next math exam and see for myself if it actually works.
Copyright to The Economist magazine
source:http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13139611
HUMAN language is the subject of endless scientific investigation, but the gestures that accompany speech are a surprisingly neglected area. It is sometimes jokingly said that the way to render an Italian speechless is to tie his wrists together, but almost everyone moves their hands in meaningful ways when they talk. Susan Goldin-Meadow of the University of Chicago, however, studies gestures carefully—and not out of idle curiosity. Introspection suggests that gesturing not only helps people communicate but also helps them to think. She set out to test this, and specifically to find out whether gestures might be used as an aid to children’s learning. It turns out, as she told the AAAS, that they can.
The experiment she conducted involved balancing equations. Presented with an equation of the form 2 + 3 + 4 = x + 4, written on a blackboard, a child is asked to calculate the value of x. In the equations Dr Goldin-Meadow always made the last number on the left the same as the last on the right; so x was the sum of the first two numbers. Commonly, however, children who are learning arithmetic will add all three of the numbers on the left to arrive at the value of x.
In her previous work Dr Goldin-Meadow had noted that children often use spontaneous gestures when explaining how they solve mathematical puzzles so, to see if these hand-movements actually help a child to think, or are merely descriptive, she divided a group of children into two and asked them to balance equations. One group was asked to gesture while doing so. A second was asked not to. Both groups were then given a lesson in how to solve problems of this sort.
As Dr Goldin-Meadow suspected, the first group learnt more from the lesson than the second. By observing their gestures she refined the experiment. Often, a child would touch or point to the first two numbers on the left with the first two fingers of one hand. Dr Goldin-Meadow therefore taught this gesture explicitly to another group of children. Or, rather, she taught a third of them, taught another third to point to the second and third numbers this way, and told the remainder to use no gestures. When all were given the same lesson it was found those gesturing “correctly” learnt the most. But those gesturing “incorrectly” still outperformed the non-gesturers.
Gesturing, therefore, clearly does help thought. Indeed, it is so thought-provoking that even the wrong gestures have some value. Perhaps this helps to explain why the arithmetic-intensive profession of banking was invented in Italy.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Leaning tower. I have decided that the slope of the tower is 10.75. I solved this knowing that at the base of the tower there is no lean. I gave this point 0,0. At the top of the tower the book said that there was a lean of 5.2 meters and the tower was 55.9 meters off of the ground. Using those two points(0,0 and 5.2,5.9) i got my answer.
Y2-Y1 over X2-X1 this was 55.9 over 5.2. By dividing I got my answer of 10.75.
I tried to put photos up but i couldn't copy them and the computer that I am using does not allow me to download images. Oh well ill put pictures up later
Y2-Y1 over X2-X1 this was 55.9 over 5.2. By dividing I got my answer of 10.75.
I tried to put photos up but i couldn't copy them and the computer that I am using does not allow me to download images. Oh well ill put pictures up later
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
WOW
I'm going to talk about computers and biology.
Most people know how a computer stores information and everybody who has tried to program knows that computers use what is called a binary system, billions of little switches that can be either on or off. This means that when you save a word document it flicks combinations of switches to store that word document in its memory. What most people do not know is how similar this is to the workings of a human body. A persons genetics are stored in DNA, but this is not binary. It is actually quaternary, which means that there are 4 different ways that each switch can be instead of 2. These four molecules are arranged in different sequences to store your genetics. The really interesting thing is when it comes to a persons memory, a brain stores information exactly like a computer does. In a binary sequence i.e. on and off switches. The difference is that instead of switches the human brain stores info in neurons. These neurons are either on or off and thus information is stored. It is almost crazy how similar the human body is to a machine. When you touch something hot your brain receives an ELECTRICAL impulse that says to it, that hurt! You re brain sends more impulses back saying that you should move your finger. The line between biological and mechanical is steadily blurring as scientists come up with more and more ideas such as computers made with DNA. Just food for thought
it should be noted that there were no sources for this information and no research was done. These are just thoughts that i had during a boring car ride.
Most people know how a computer stores information and everybody who has tried to program knows that computers use what is called a binary system, billions of little switches that can be either on or off. This means that when you save a word document it flicks combinations of switches to store that word document in its memory. What most people do not know is how similar this is to the workings of a human body. A persons genetics are stored in DNA, but this is not binary. It is actually quaternary, which means that there are 4 different ways that each switch can be instead of 2. These four molecules are arranged in different sequences to store your genetics. The really interesting thing is when it comes to a persons memory, a brain stores information exactly like a computer does. In a binary sequence i.e. on and off switches. The difference is that instead of switches the human brain stores info in neurons. These neurons are either on or off and thus information is stored. It is almost crazy how similar the human body is to a machine. When you touch something hot your brain receives an ELECTRICAL impulse that says to it, that hurt! You re brain sends more impulses back saying that you should move your finger. The line between biological and mechanical is steadily blurring as scientists come up with more and more ideas such as computers made with DNA. Just food for thought
it should be noted that there were no sources for this information and no research was done. These are just thoughts that i had during a boring car ride.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
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